Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Pakistani Authorities Trying to Find Out if Body They Found is Daniel Pearl's

Aired May 17, 2002 - 05:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistani authorities are trying to find out if a body they found is indeed that of American journalist Daniel Pearl. DNA testing will have to be done to confirm it. The remains were found on the outskirts of Karachi. Police were directed to the site last night by three men who were arrested in the case.

Our Islamabad Bureau Chief, Ash-har Quraishi, joins us live by video phone with more details -- good morning.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.

Everybody has been very careful about what's being said right now. The forensic team has been on the site in the outskirts of Karachi with police trying to gather information, gather the evidence that they want to maintain there. Forensic experts say that they want to be very careful with maintaining this crime scene.

They'll be there for about another hour or so, as we understand it. And the government also finally coming out and saying that they, in fact, do believe that this may be Daniel Pearl's body. But they are being very careful as to positively identifying it as such.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RASHID QUERESHI, PAKISTANIA PRES. SPOKESMAN: The news that we've got so far is that it seems to be Daniel Pearl's body. We are waiting for a confirmation, because we want to be 100 percent sure that there's no mistake in this. There may be some DNA tests. Otherwise, from what I've heard, it's most likely that it is his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QURAISHI: Now the reason that government officials are being very careful, police officials are being very careful as well, is, as you may remember, after the kidnapping in late January, there were reports that Daniel Pearl's body had been found, dumped in a cemetery in Karachi. It turned out that that was not Daniel Pearl's body, as was widely reported in the media and by police at that time.

So the government is being very careful as to positively identifying this, waiting until those tests come through. Also, the trial of four men accused in this case continues here in Pakistan. The trial has adjourned for the day. The proceedings will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM.

I spoke to defense attorneys late last night as this story was breaking. They said that they were following these details but were not sure exactly what this was going to mean for the trial. The prosecution today said that they have no comment right now. They say it's premature to comment, and what this will mean for the trial, depending on whether or not this is positively identified as Daniel Pearl's body -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ash-har, the AP is reporting that the body was found near a one-room shed, and inside that shed some buttons from Pearl's shirt were found. Are you hearing anything about that?

QURAISHI: Well, investigators close to this case have been telling me that this may be possible. They say that this body was found in a compound near a small house. In which case, they say police right now believe that that may be the house in which the killing may have taken place. But right now they're still gathering forensic evidence. So they're still being very careful about what exactly they're saying. But they say that that is a possibility -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The other interesting thing that the AP is reporting is that the body was found about 500 yards from an Islamic school that was actually founded by someone connected to the Taliban. Can you tell us anything about that?

QURAISHI: Well, there's been no information regarding that from our sources. Our sources say that it's still very premature to discuss what may have happened, who may be involved. There's still very little information about these three men that were arrested.

As you may remember, there were 11 people accused in this case; four of which are being tried right now in Pakistan. The other seven hadn't been apprehended yet. And still it's not clear whether or not these three suspects that were picked up were amongst those that were listed in the original charge sheet. So they're being very careful about who exactly they're pinning to this scene right now, Carol.

COSTELLO: So those three men who led them to this body, have they been charged officially?

QURAISHI: So far, we don't know much about what's happened to these three men. We know that they have led police to this location. It's still not clear whether or not they were directly involved or this was something that they had found out about and planned to tell police about.

Right now, the investigation is continuing. They are right now working on the forensic side of this, and we expect the investigation into who these three men are and how they knew where this body was to come out shortly -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well right now, the trial has been suspended. And we understand that they want to go and tape Mr. Pearl's wife, tape her testimony and bring it back to Pakistan. Is that what you're hearing? QURAISHI: Well, that's not exactly what the prosecution is saying. Prosecution has put an application to have Marianne Pearl's testimony commissioned from an outside location so that she won't have to come here to Pakistan to do that testimony. That petition is still in process; there has been no official word from the judiciary as to whether or not that's going to be allowed.

But the trial, as we understand it, will continue until that decision comes. Prosecution I spoke to just a short time ago expects to be at the Hezabad (ph) Central Jail once again tomorrow at 10:00 AM here in Pakistan.

COSTELLO: All right. Ash-har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad this morning -- thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com